The Winter Athletic Awards program honoring the winter sports athletes at Elk County Catholic High School was held on Wednesday evening. The program opened with an invocation by Father Ross Miceli, followed by the welcome by ECC Athletic Club President Chris Schneider. Principal Sandy Florig gave an overview of the program, followed by acknowledgements by Athletic Director Aaron Straub.
First on the program was the awarding of the three-year letter winner certificates by the various coaches. Receiving the certificates were Brittany Auman, Megan Dornisch, Shelby Gorman, Crystal Hanes, Kathleen Kneidel, Hannah McGowan, Jodi Meyer, Alexis Schlimm and Erica Wehler for cheerleading; Karly Carnovale for girls' basketball, Tyler Herzing in boys' basketball; and Andrew Cotter, Alex Renwick and Ryan Struble in swimming and diving.
Molly Eshbach received a plaque as a four-year letter winner in gymnastics.
Letter jackets were presented to seniors Mitchel Haberberger and Trista Huey, juniors Marissa Armstrong and Ashley Seelye, sophomores JoAnne Aiello, Taylor DaCanal, Maura Keyes and Kylee Proudfit, and freshmen Emma Daghir, Joey Ferragine and Corey Koss.
The next part of the awards program was for the co-op sports of swimming and diving, wrestling and gymnastics.
Head Coach Mark DeMuro of the St. Marys Area Swimming and Diving team gave a brief summary of the season, noting that the team started out slowly, but came on strong at the end of the season as they sent two relay teams, two individual swimmers and two divers to the state meet. He noted that having a co-op with ECCHS has been beneficial for both schools.
DeMuro presented letters to the following swimmers and divers: Megan Barber, Gianna DeMuro, Amanda Hansen, Justin Huey, Shannon Krieg, Thomas Murmann, Brittany Orr, Stephanie Buerk, Jacob Burns, Matt Hoffman, John Mosebarger, Melinda Stebick, Gideon Woelfel, Kelsey Bonifay, Gary Fledderman, Alec Foster, Michaela Rupprecht, Cassie Wonderling, and Tim Moseberger of the St. Marys Area High School. Receiving letters from Elk Catholic were Andrew Cotter, Alex Renwick, Ryan Struble, Maura Keyes, Jeffrey Moore, Kylee Proudfit, Emma Daghir, Joey Ferragine and Corey Koss. Letters were also presented to the team managers, Amy Orr and Brandon Orr.
MVP and coaching awards for the swimmers will be presented at their annual banquet in April.
Wrestling coach Dominic Surra discussed the recently completed season, noting that the team improved over last year as all the wrestlers worked very hard. St. Marys had three district champs this past season, Mike Brennen and Kevin Hoy of St. Marys Area and Joe McLaughlin of ECCHS.
Surra presented McLaughlin with his letter and also introduced Dan Snelick of ECC, who had to sit out much of the season with a knee injury.
Surra noted that his MVPs for the year were Kevin Hoy and Jimmy Antonelli.
Gymnastic coach Irene McCandless was next on the agenda. She gave an overview of the 5-3 season, noting that the team finished second in their league and second in their division at the state meet. At the state meet, six of the seven gymnasts competing won medals.
Molly Eshbach and Megan Longhi were the MVPs for the team. Eshbach was also presented with a plaque for setting a new school record in vault.
Receiving gymnastic letters were Molly Eshbach, Laurel Pierotti, Abby Wittman and Mackenzie Neureiter of ECCHS and Bobbi Fox, Justin Huey, Megan Longhi and Michaela Sorg of St. Marys Area.
Chrissie Schneider, junior high girls' volleyball coach, gave a short talk on the volleyball season, noting that 38 girls, 22 eighth graders and 16 seventh graders, made up the two squads. The girls took part in three tournaments and showed improvement with each game and tournament.
Members of the eighth grade team were Abbey Bauer, Renee Buchheit, Felicia DePrator, Madlyn Ehrensberger, Nicole Florio, Elizabeth Glatt, Shaina Gorman, Marissa Heary, Kylee Kline, Sierra Meyer, Macy Reichard, Jolene Renwick, Hannah Schneider, Nicole Schneider, Ashley Schwabenbauer, Sydnie Stauffer, Jessica Tettis, Kirstie Wehler, Sophia Yanak and Samantha Zimmerman.
Members of the seventh grade team were Rae Ann Bucher, Danielle DeLullo, Mackenzie Gahr, Abbey Gerg, Sydney Hoffman, Emily Kamats, Dali Ann Kirst, Lexi Knight, Mary Kraus, Emily Oâ€™Neill, Sarah Pistner, Elise Stebick, Laurel Szymanski, Sophia Viglione, Stacie Werneth and Hannah Wittman.
Head boys' basketball coach Aaron Straub reviewed the junior high season, noting that they finished the season with a 19-3 record as they averaged 43 points and gave up 28 points a game. They won the Elk County and DuBois Central tournaments and finished second in the Tip Off Tourney. Members of the team were Ryan Childs, Taylor Feronti, Andrew Gebauer, Cory Huff, Vincent Jacob, Matt Jerko, Luke Kraus, Colton Lecker, Ben Reuscher, Brandon Schlimm, Elliott Struble, Nick Werner and Ivan Wortman. The scorekeepers were Nicole Hanes and Tara Trumbull.
The junior varsity squad finished with a 19-3 record also and placed second in the Elk County Tournament. Members of the JV squad included Hank Cappiello, Devin Constable, Ben Cortina, Brock McCullough, Mitchell Gahr, Alex Herzing, Jack Herzing, Clayton Housler, Shea Meyer, Mitchell Oâ€™Neill and Scott Reichard.
The Crusaders varsity team finished the season with a 25-5 mark. They started the season slowly, going 5-3 in their first eight games, but finished the season winning 20 of their final 22 games. They won the District 9 A Championship, the AML League, tied for first in the District 9 League and won the holiday tournament.
Straub presented letters to the nine seniors: Ben Crowe, Ben Daghir, Luke Daghir, Josh Gebauer, Mitchel Haberberger, Tyler Herzing, Ricky Pearsall, Darren Simons and Eric Wehler. He also introduced the junior members of his squad: Michael Jacob, Kevin Kraus, Caleb Lecker, Brandon Pollick and Ben Wortman. Also recognized by Coach Straub were student assistants Thane Barber, Joe Hoffman, Trista Huey, Megan Fritz, Kacie Yost, Troy Caskey, Laura Buchheit and Laira Reuscher.
Coach Straub presented Tyler Herzing with the Coaches Award for boys' basketball.
Ken Pistner, Lady Crusaders basketball coach, highlighted the JV Lady Crusaders' season, noting that they finished at 13-9 on the year. He then introducted the JV players: Michelle Imbrogno, Morgan Onink, Kayla Weis, Stephanie Zimmerman, Michaela Cashmer, Hayley DaCanal, Chiara Genevro, Maria Scacchitti, Marla Scacchitti and Rachel Stauffer.
Pistner noted that the varsity finished the season with a 19-10 record. The girls averaged 44 points a game, while allowing just 35 points. â€śThe girls worked hard all season long and showed improvement with each game,â€ť he said.
Letters were presented to the following varsity players: Karly Carnovale, Emily Gregory, Anna Hawkins, Ellie Petrosky, Helen Danz, Lexie Meholic, Abbi Petrosky, Jena Struble, Maggie Sorg, Taylor DaCanal and Kristy Hanes.
Abbi Petrosky was presented the MVP award for offense and Karly Carnovale received the Coaches award.
Marlene Stubber, cheerleading coach, gave a review of the cheerleading season, noting the the competition squad finished 17th in the nation in the national competition held in Florida. They also won every competition they entered in January and February, including the District 9 championship. The regular cheerleading staff cheer at the boys' and girls' basketball games.
Members of the junior high squad this season were Sophie Assalone, Emily Bush, Ashley Gerg, Alex Imbrogno, Leah Kucenski and Allison Perryman.
Earning letters this season were Ally Brock, Megan Dornisch, Crystal Hanes, Hannah McGowan, Alexis Schlimm, JoAnne Aiello, Maria Gismondi, Marissa Armstrong, Brittany Auman, Lindsey Gardner, Shelby Gorman, Kathleen Kneidel, Jodi Meyer, Ashley Seelye, Erica Wehler, Morgan Geyer and Jordan Lenox. Other members of the squad were Nicole Dattoli, Stacy Wickett, Jessica Chiodo, Marisa Cunningham, Sarah Bobenrieth and Sara Kucenski.
Stubber presented Coaches awards to Crystal Hanes and Alexis Schlimm, with the Linda Bolden Memorial Award going to Hannah McGowan.